Chapter 2361: Now.

Sylas was interrupted several times on the journey, but Yamero seemed determined to make certain none of those interruptions became Sylas’ problem.

The first group barely managed to descend from their ship before space folded beneath them and deposited the entire vessel several million kilometers away. Another formation attempted to lock onto Yamero from the side, only for the Rune Serpentes to twist through the surrounding space like he was rearranging pieces on a board, sending their own attack back through the opening they had created and destroying half their ship before they understood what had happened.

Vaelith understood what he was doing almost immediately, but that wasn’t what unsettled her.

The longer she watched Yamero manipulate the surrounding Runes, the more a suspicion she had been dismissing began to take root. His Rune Mastery didn’t resemble Sylas’ at all, because where Sylas treated Runes like things that already belonged to him, Yamero tinkered with them, tested them, and turned space over from one interpretation to another as though solving entertaining puzzles.

Then his aura unfolded.

Vaelith’s expression stiffened.

A-tier.

There was no mistaking it now, because Yamero’s power had expanded along with his body until the pressure surrounding him reached a completely different level. Even if he truly was some divided portion of Sylas’ Will, shouldn’t that division have made him weaker rather than stronger?

The thought only became more uncomfortable the longer she considered it.

Yamero didn’t possess the same crushing presence as some of the S-tiers Vaelith had encountered, yet there was something about him that felt far more dangerous than raw aura alone suggested.

His understanding of Rune Mastery wasn’t ornamental, and now that his strength had fully bloomed on the Demi-God Plane, Vaelith found herself wondering whether he would even fear an S-tier if one appeared.

Yamero, for his part, seemed almost eager to find out.

Sylas had this following him around?

Vaelith looked toward Sylas’ back, then toward the enormous Rune Serpentes beneath them, and the corner of her mouth twitched. Why hadn’t he used Yamero more often if he possessed such a ridiculous trump card?

The answer that came to mind made her feel ridiculous. Maybe Sylas simply couldn’t be bothered.

He had only called Yamero now because he wanted to reach his destination faster without dulling his senses, which meant this wasn’t some desperate measure or hidden last resort. Yamero was convenience.

Vaelith slowly looked down at him again.

If Sylas and Yamero really were the same person, why would Sylas treat using him as though it were beneath his interest?

Her lips pressed together. Had she misunderstood everything from the beginning?

That created an even worse question, because if Yamero was his own existence, then how had Sylas convinced someone this powerful to follow him around without complaint?

What Vaelith couldn’t know was that Yamero’s return to A-tier should have created another problem entirely. Yet it didn’t.

The Heaven System accepted him as Sylas’ Contract, and because of that relationship, Yamero slipped through restrictions that should have prevented an A-tier existence from participating so freely. He remained tied to Sylas’ status rather than being treated as an independent participant, which meant the very limitations others had spent so much effort exploiting barely applied to him at all.

Sylas could have cheated like this from the beginning.

There had been a time when he entered Quicktime Events and could only watch stronger people bend rules while he endured whatever loopholes they managed to exploit. Now, the situation had reversed so thoroughly that the thought barely warranted consideration.

If there were rules to break...

Sylas could break them better.

**

Far deeper within Beast Heaven, the feathered Serpentes finally looked away from the silent cave below.

His emerald-gold feathers shifted softly as another disturbance rolled across the surrounding stars, violet facets catching the light while his gaze moved toward the distance. "Someone is coming."

For the first time in quite a while, something responded.

The planet trembled.

It wasn’t violent enough to damage anything, but the reaction spread through the world with such clarity that the feathered Serpentes’ smile faded. He lowered his gaze toward Nosphaleen’s cave, wondering what could possibly have made her react when even his presence had earned little more than silence.

Then he looked back up.

A Serpentes made entirely of spatial Runes hovered high above the atmosphere.

Its enormous body curled through the skies like a living formation, and on its back stood a beautiful Thryskai woman alongside a young man whose indifference immediately felt offensive to him for reasons he couldn’t quite put his finger on.

Above that young man’s head, a system beacon flashed repeatedly, broadcasting his identity and location across the Heaven Clash.

The feathered Serpentes narrowed his eyes.

Sylas Grimblade. He had actually come here.

Below them stretched one of the most beautiful worlds Sylas had seen since entering Beast Heaven, covered in oceans that reflected pink and violet light while forests of translucent leaves shimmered beneath drifting clouds.

Mesmeryx moved throughout those distant regions like living jewels, silver scales catching polished blues, lavenders, and soft rose hues as their translucent koi-like wings carried them through the air.

The C-tier generation had largely gone to war, but the Race itself remained, but none approached the central region.

Their reverence for Nosphaleen was too great for that, and the lands surrounding her cave had been left almost untouched, beautiful and empty beneath the weight of her presence.

Sylas looked past all of it.

He didn’t spare the feathered Serpentes a glance. Instead, his attention locked onto the cave below.

"Come out. Now."

The words were calm, but that somehow made the weight of them worst.

Vaelith didn’t know how to react. She had seen Sylas angry once before, but she had never heard him say such things due to rage. This didn’t sound like any normal anger at all.

Space tightened around the planet.

Distant clouds stopped moving, oceans flattened, and even the Runes running through Yamero’s body seemed to settle beneath the pressure of Sylas’ Will. He hadn’t raised his voice, but the entire world reacted as though it had heard the anger hidden underneath it.